


miles on the clock

by atimi (bertee)



Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Attempted Rape, Dubious Consent, M/M, Slavery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-01-12
Updated: 2011-01-12
Packaged: 2017-11-02 03:34:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,382
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/364524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bertee/pseuds/atimi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Hi, Jensen," he said with a smile that was supposed to be reassuring. "I'm Jared. I guess I'm your new owner."</p>
            </blockquote>





	miles on the clock

"Congratulations, sweetheart!"

Already laden down with a huge stuffed dog, courtesy of his sister, Jared couldn't do much more than offer a one-armed pat on the back as his mom hugged him tightly. "Thanks, mom."

She pulled back enough to straighten the front of his robe and Jared didn't miss the wetness in her eyes as she said, "I'm so proud of you, JT."

"All grown up and heading to college," Jeff chimed in as he pulled Jared's graduation cap off and ruffled his hair. "I still can't believe they let you in, dude."

"Screw you," Jared said mildly, shifting the stuffed dog to rest on his hip as his mom grabbed the cap back from Jeff and settled it on his head again. He looked around with a frown when she brushed his bangs out of his eyes and he asked, "Hey, where's dad?"

"He's over by the car," his mom said with a smile. "We've got a surprise for you!"

Jared raised his eyebrows. His mom was notoriously bad at keeping secrets and so the fact that she'd managed to stay quiet about a surprise was pretty impressive. "A surprise, huh?" he asked as he followed his mom and brother across the parking lot. "Is it a puppy?"

"It's way better than a puppy, bro," Jeff said confidently. "I helped dad pick it out. You're gonna love it."

Intrigued, Jared picked up his pace as they got nearer to where his dad was waiting by the minivan with a smile on his face. "I'm guessing your mother told you about this?"

"She just said there's a surprise for me," Jared said, peering around his dad to try to work out where the surprise was. "She didn't say what it was."

His dad glanced over at his mom but he spoke again before Jared could get too impatient, "Well, JT, your mother and I think you're old enough now to be responsible about this. You've done really well in school and we're sure you're going to do well in future so this is our contribution to helping you start the next step of your life." He clapped him on the shoulder and reached over to open the trunk of the car with a flourish. "Congratulations, son."

Caught up in the excitement, Jared did a double-take when his dad stepped aside to reveal a man on his knees in the back of the minivan. "What-"

"He's all yours," Jared's mom said proudly. "You can take him with you to college and have him look after you."

"You can pledge Sigma Kappa Tau if you've got a slave," Jeff added. "It's the best frat on campus - you'll love it there."

"I don't know what to say," Jared said honestly, leaning over to kiss his mom on the cheek out of politeness. "Thank you, guys. This is awesome."

"Well, you deserve it," his dad said. "You'll need to go shopping for some supplies for him but you're a grown boy now - you're responsible enough to take care of him."

"Thank you," Jared said again, looking past his dad at the slave. "Can I...?"

"Go ahead," his dad said. "I picked him up from a dealer in the city. Two previous owners, no illnesses, disabilities or infections, and virginity intact."

Jared edged in closer and reached out to touch the man kneeling in the back of the car. He almost expected him to be cold or hard or something to indicate he wasn't human but his skin was warm and soft to the touch as Jared cupped his cheek and tilted his head up to face him.

The guy couldn't have been much older than he was, early twenties at the most, but he was prettier than Jared was prepared for. He'd thought he'd be plain, some dull-looking slave who couldn't find a wealthy buyer, but his big green eyes, long eyelashes and full lips made Jared wonder exactly how much his dad had paid for him. The slave was in good shape, if a little skinny, and dressed in the standard khaki t-shirt and black pants given to newly-bought slaves, and Jared looked at the tagged collar around his neck to read his name aloud, "Jensen."

The slave looked up at him, obviously expecting an order. Uncertain of what he should be saying and aware of his parents' scrutiny, Jared held his hand out for the slave to shake. "Hi, Jensen," he said with a smile that was supposed to be reassuring. "I'm Jared. I guess I'm your new owner."

 

+++

 

The summer passed in a blur of friends, family and freedom, and since Jared was still living at home, Jensen's presence didn't impact on his life too heavily over the warm summer months. He ate whatever the rest of them were eating, he slept in the spare bedroom when Jeff moved away, and he spent the day helping Jared's mom around the house.

It was only when Jared was packing up his truck to go away to college at the end of the summer that his newfound responsibility really hit home. The sun was low in the sky, his parents were waiting on the porch in their pajamas to see him off, and Jensen was standing awkwardly on the sidewalk, dressed, washed, and holding a pitifully small bag of his belongings.

"Where do you want me?" Jensen asked quietly, and Jared felt a twinge of guilt at the realization of how much he'd neglected him over the last few weeks.

"Uh, you can ride up front with me," he said, looking to his parents in an effort to work out how he should be treating his slave. "Leave your stuff on the backseat."

Jensen obeyed without complaint. He climbed in the car and Jared went over to say goodbye to his parents one more time, distracted by the thought of spending hours on the road with a guy he'd barely spoken to over the summer. His mom cried, his dad told him to keep in touch (or else), and his sister protested sleepily when Jared ran upstairs to say his goodbyes to her too, and then that was it, just him and Jensen and the open road.

"Have you been out of San Antonio before?" he asked when the songs on the radio weren't enough to fill the awkward silence between them. "Where were your other owners from?"

Jensen looked over at him in surprise, like he couldn't quite believe Jared was talking to him, but he answered anyway, "I grew up near Dallas, sir. My second owner moved to San Antonio a few years ago and she sold me before she moved up to New York."

Jared raised his eyebrows. "She didn't take you with her?"

"She didn't need me, sir," Jensen said carefully. "There's no use keeping a slave you don't need."

"Call me Jared," he said, turning the radio down so he could hear Jensen better. "What did you do for your other owners?"

Jensen curled in on himself with a shrug. "I looked out for the son in the first family. They bought me when I was a baby and I grew up with their son until he was old enough to get bored with me."

Jared's eyebrows shot up. The thought of someone being sold by his family and his friend from birth made his heart clench in sympathy and he almost didn't want to hear the answer when he asked, "What about your second owner? Was that a family too?"

Jensen shook his head. "Single woman. She needed someone to help with her work, do the chores around the house, look good on her arm in public, that kind of thing." Jared glanced over at him and Jensen answered pre-emptively, "We never had sex. She wouldn't lower herself to sleeping with a slave."

"I'm sorry," Jared said. "That's rough, man."

Jensen looked even more confused by the apology and he shrugged again. "It's nothing, sir."

Jared couldn't come up with a good response and so he focused on the road as he thought aloud, "Honestly, I don't know what I'm gonna use you for at college. I never really wanted a slave - it always seemed kinda cruel - but I couldn't turn it down, y'know?"

He didn't know it was possible but Jensen seemed to get even more tense in the passenger seat. "I'm sorry," Jensen said softly. "I can stay out of your way or you could hire me out to someone else if you want."

"Hey, no," Jared said firmly. "I'm not renting you out like a u-haul, dude. We'll work something out, I promise."

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Jensen glance over at him with a blank look on his face but he didn't say anything else as they drove on.

 

+++

 

College was pretty much everything Jared expected and more.

By the end of the first week, he'd had two drunken hook-ups, nearly two hundred embarrassing pictures of himself tagged on facebook, and one day of the worst hangover known to mankind. Classes hadn't started yet and he'd spent most of his days sleeping off the alcohol from the previous nights and then making friends with some of the people on his course and in his dorm.

Jensen had stayed out of the way, shut up in the tiny room off Jared's bedroom when he wasn't out getting Jared books or making him food or cleaning his room. Jared had felt guilty every time Jensen had closed himself away or done easy chores Jared knew he could've done himself, but Jensen had politely refused all Jared's offers to help and had resisted all Jared's attempts to engage him in regular conversation. However, he never disobeyed an order and as Jared headed out to the first Sigma Kappa Tau pledge meeting on Friday night, Jensen was at his side, silent and obedient.

The frat house wasn't far from his dorm and Jared could hear the music blaring out from the windows as they got closer. Irrational anxiety twisted up his spine at the prospect of bringing Jensen with him to the frat house but he tried to ignore it as he walked through the door and immediately came face to face with Chad Murray, a sophomore frat member who lived in his dorm.

"Padalecki!" Chad said with a grin, patting Jared on the shoulder. "Glad you could make it, bro!" He lowered his voice and winked. "You're totally a shoe-in to make it through pledging but we gotta keep up formalities, y'know?" His own slave stood behind him, a shorter, dark-haired guy in jeans and an expensive t-shirt, and Jared watched Chad's eyes dart over to Jensen. "This one yours?"

"He's mine," Jared said. "His name's Jensen."

Chad waved away this information and stepped in closer to examine him. "Jesus, look at that face. He must've cost a fucking fortune." He grinned and ran his thumb over Jensen's lips. "Bet you get good use outta that mouth though."

Jared bristled at the sight of Chad pawing at Jensen and he smoothly stepped between them to walk with Chad into the main room of the house. "Not so much."

"Pity," Chad said. "You ever feel like sharing, you call me, okay?" He looked over his shoulder at Jensen. "I could think of plenty to do with him."

"Maybe later," Jared said as diplomatically as he could. "What's going tonight?"

"Typical initiation bullshit," Chad said with a sigh. "There's the 'this is a proud and glorious fraternity' speech which is always boring as shit, then they'll blindfold you and make you jump on 'broken glass'-" Jared raised his eyebrows and Chad said under his breath, "It's just Doritos. Anyway, then we all drink beer and inspect the pledges' slaves. It's pretty low-stress, seriously."

Jared wasn't sure how low-stress he would find people 'inspecting' Jensen but the room quietened down before he could ask any questions and he turned his attention to the fraternity president as he climbed up on the table to begin his speech.

The evening progressed as Chad had predicted, from the speech to the first initiation to the beer, and Jared was pleasantly buzzed from the alcohol as he sank back on the couch next to Chad and watched the frat brothers inspect another pledge's slave. The slave was blond and slim with stringy hair hanging down to his shoulders and Jared looked on absent-mindedly as they checked the slave's teeth and voice and joked to each other about his hair. Next to him, Chad was rambling about some sorority girl he'd hooked up with during the week and Jared had mostly zoned out when he heard a voice shout, "Padalecki? Let's get a look at your slave!"

Jensen looked up at him from where he was kneeling next by his feet and Jared gestured to him with a drunken wave. "He's right here."

His dazed detachment sharpened up a little when the three guys conducting the inspection pulled Jensen to his feet and patted over his body, feeling the width of his shoulders down to the bow of his legs. One of them focused on his face, gripping his jaw tightly, and Jared sat up straighter when he saw Jensen flinch at the touch.

"Hey, take it easy," Jared protested but Chad laid a hand on his shoulder as one of the guys pried Jensen's mouth open to look at his teeth.

"Chill, dude," Chad said, drunk and relaxed. "He's just a slave."

That didn't stop the churning worry in Jared's gut as he watched the guy push his fingers into Jensen's mouth and whisper something to his friend. They moved in closer to Jensen and one of them tugged Jensen's shirt off over his head as another called to Jared, "I think this one needs a more thorough inspection, Padalecki." He patted Jensen sharply on the cheek. "Isn't that right, slave?"

Jensen recoiled at the slap but then stumbled as one of the guys grabbed his hair to hold him in place and whispered something to his friend.

"Scratch that," the first guy called again. "This is gonna be a private inspection. That cool with you, pledge?"

Their hands were on Jensen and they were hauling him away before Jared could come up with something to say. Chad passed him a beer and swayed against him as he said helpfully, "Don't worry about it, man. They'll get him back to you, good as new. Just call it a senior privilege."

Jared's eyes widened and he pulled against Chad's grip on his arm. "Wait, what? They can do that to him?"

Chad shrugged. "He's a slave," he said, as if that explained everything. "It's just part of the frat traditions, man. Roll with it. It's not like it's hurting anyone."

Jared pulled away, sobering up quickly. "It could be hurting Jensen."

Chad chuckled. "That's funny, man. Really." He frowned when Jared stood up. "Where you going?"

"To stop them," Jared said. "Where did they take him?"

"C'mon, man..."

"Where?" Jared demanded again. "Where is he?"

"You know you're fucking up your chances here," Chad said, reaching for another beer which his slave passed him. "They're never gonna let you into Sigma Kappa Tau if you start being a fuckin' jackass about petty shit like this."

"I don't give a fuck," Jared spat. "Where the fuck is he, Murray?"

Chad rolled his eyes but said anyway, "Third door on the left."

Jared took off, pushing past the throngs of pledges and frat brothers in the main room as he ran down the hallway to the third door. He shoved it open without hesitation but came skidding to a halt when he saw the cluster of people in the center of the room.

Jensen was trapped between the three seniors who'd claimed to be doing the inspection. One of their ties was bound over his eyes and he was struggling against the biggest guy who had pinned his arms together behind his back. He was still shirtless but his pants had been undone as the other two guys pushed the neck of a full beer bottle between his lips and shoved a hand down the front of his pants. Beer spilled down his chin as Jensen cried out around the bottle, kicking and fighting as much as he could, even though he must've known the penalty for a slave assaulting a free man, and Jared's anger and fear spurred him into action.

"Hey!" he yelled. "Get the fuck off him!"

The three guys jumped at the shout but didn't move until Jared got up close to haul the first one away from Jensen.

"What the fuck, Padalecki?" The guy holding the beer bottle set it aside and Jared watched as Jensen choked and coughed now that his mouth wasn't obstructed. "Newbies don't get a say here."

"He's mine," Jared said, surprised by how possessive he was over Jensen. "Get your hands off him."

The last guy let go, shoving Jensen towards Jared, and Jared caught him as best he could, pulling off his blindfold and wincing at the developing bruise on his cheek from where he'd obviously been hit. Jensen's eyes were wide and frightened and Jared wrapped his arm around him as he soothed, "Hey, it's okay. No-one's gonna hurt you."

"Aww," one of the guys mocked, "pledge has got a crush."

"I don't know who you think you are, Padalecki," the biggest of the guys said, "but pledges don't call the shots in this fraternity."

"Guess it's a good thing I'm not a pledge," Jared said with a glare. "I'm done here. I like having friends who aren't rapists."

He helped Jensen stand up and turned around to head out when he heard one of them sneer, "Rapists? He's a fucking slave-"

The senior barely got the word out before Jared's fist slammed into his face.

The painful crack was followed up by yells of anger and cries of pain and Jared kept his arm around Jensen for support as they hurried out of the frat house and away into the night. Jared's heart pounded in his chest as they walked away but the smack of the cold night air against his face was enough to cool his fury down within a few steps. Jensen shivered in his arms, still shirtless with just his collar around his neck and undoubtedly shaken-up by what had happened, and Jared shrugged his jacket off to settle it around Jensen's shoulders.

Jensen looked up at him in surprise and Jared pulled him in closer as he said quietly, "It's not much further. Are you okay?"

Jensen nodded. "Yes, sir."

He doubted whether Jensen was telling the truth but didn't push the issue until they'd made it back to the dorm, up the stairs and into the safety of Jared's bedroom where he could get a better look at any damage done. Jensen was huddled in his jacket, curled into himself as much as he could, but he couldn't hide the marks on his jaw, hips, and cheek from where he'd been grabbed and hit.

"Jesus," Jared murmured, smoothing his thumb over Jensen's cheek beneath the swell of the bruise. "I'm so sorry, Jensen. I didn't know anything like that was going to happen. I should've stopped them before they even got you out of the room."

Jensen ducked his head. "It's not your fault. I'm fine."

"It is my fault and you're not fine," Jared said, grabbing a hoodie and some sweatpants from his drawers and holding him out to Jensen. "Here. They're gonna be warmer than your clothes."

Even as he said it, he knew he should've thought more about the clothes he'd bought for Jensen and the standard of the living conditions in Jensen's tiny little room, and he backed up to let him get changed, still running over the events of the evening and the past summer and trying to reconcile his protective feelings towards Jensen with everything he'd learned about slaves from his parents and with the attitudes displayed at the frat house that evening.

"Jared?" Jensen asked nervously, and Jared turned around to look at him again, now wrapped up in the oversized sweats and hoodie. "Do you need anything?"

It was Jensen's usual nightly question, the one that got asked before he retired to his room until morning, but after what he'd seen, Jared couldn't stomach the idea of Jensen being shut up on his own for the whole night in a room little bigger than a closet.

"Come sit down?" he asked, settling on his double bed and patting the mattress next to him. Jensen looked apprehensive as he sat next to him and Jared said, "Don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong. I just wanna talk, I guess."

Jensen tucked his legs up underneath him and let the sleeves of the hoodie fall over his hands. "Talk about what, sir?"

"You," Jared said. "Me. Us. I don't know, I don't understand what I'm doing here half the time." He sighed and leaned back against the headboard as he thought aloud, "My parents bought you for me, right? And that's normal - a whole load of people have slaves and I never had a problem with it. I never thought I wanted one or anything, and I didn't like seeing them treated badly, but it was just how it was, y'know? But now you're here and I feel like an asshole for how I treated you all summer. Fuck, I feel like an asshole for how I'm treating you now."

Jensen's brows knitted together in a frown. "Tonight wasn't your fault, sir," he said quietly. "It doesn't matter."

"But it does matter," Jared insisted. "I don't wanna see you get hurt, Jensen."

Jensen shifted position on the bed, easing closer to Jared as he asked, "Is that what's upsetting you? Or are you angry because someone touched your property?" Jared frowned and Jensen moved in closer. "That's what I am, Jared. You own me, and you're the one who gets to decide how you use me."

There was enough of a hint in his voice and Jared's mind slipped down the easiest route. "Use you? You mean..."

Jensen sat back on his heels, kneeling on the bed at Jared's feet. "I can mean whatever you want me to mean. I'm not naive, sir. I knew what my role might be as your slave."

He crawled up between Jared's legs with a knowing glint in his eyes as he leaned in closer, and Jared did a double-take, struggling to believe what was happening. "Jensen, I don't- This isn't what I wanted."

"Are you sure?" Jensen asked, his breath soft against Jared's mouth. "Are you sure that you didn't want to be the one touching me tonight instead of the frat guys? I heard you in here this week, Jared. I know you like guys and you like getting off." He whispered against his lips, "That's what I'm here for."

He closed the gap between them, pressing his lips against Jared's in a tentative kiss. His tongue slipped out to lick over Jared's lower lip and Jared felt his good intentions crumbling at the new prospect of having a willing Jensen in his bed every night. He parted his lips, licking Jensen's mouth open wider and curling his tongue against Jensen's, and he slid his hands down Jensen's back, pushing one up under the hoodie to rest against his side and edging the other one down to cup his ass.

His fingers rested along the curve of his cheek, nudging in to brush against his hole as he squeezed his ass, but his arousal was doused in a heartbeat when he felt Jensen flinch.

"No." He pulled back quickly, scrambling off the bed and away from Jensen, and he wiped a hand over his mouth as he shook his head, still tasting Jensen on his lips. "No. You don't want this. You're pretending you do because you think it's what I want but you don't want any of it. Christ, you're a fucking virgin..."

He ran a hand through his hair but turned back around when Jensen knelt up, twisting his fingers in the material of his sweats and looking even more nervous, like he expected to be hit. "I do want this," he said. "That's what I'm here for."

"No," Jared said firmly. "I'm not like those guys. I'm not one of those assholes who rapes a slave."

Jensen looked down, awkward and ashamed, and Jared calmed down a little when sympathy washed through him. "Why did you offer?" he asked, confused. "Why would you do that when you don't even wanna be touched?"

"I do want to be touched," he said. Jared opened his mouth to argue but Jensen cut in quickly, "I- I like you, Jared. I know I'm your slave and I have no place saying this, and I know you forget I'm there half the time, but you've been good to me. You talk to me, you do things for me, you ask for my opinion..." He gestured to his hoodie and sweats. "You even let me wear your clothes."

Taken by surprise, Jared struggled to find the words to express how fucked up it was that Jensen thought that his half-hearted, assholish behavior was some kind of special treatment and so he remained speechless as Jensen continued, "You helped me tonight when you didn't need to, and I wanted to make you feel good. I-" His cheeks flushed with shame. "I thought you'd want to sleep with me."

Jared hadn't ever thought he'd feel guilty for not sleeping with Jensen but evidently today was a day of firsts. "It's not like that," he said, walking over to the bed again and resting his hands on Jensen's shoulders. "I think the question is more about whether you want to sleep with me."

"I-"

"And not just because you think I want it or because it's supposed to make me happy. What do you want, Jensen? If you could choose anything for us to do in this bed right now, from just going to sleep to having crazy, hardcore, kinky sex, what would you pick?"

He felt Jensen tense up at the question but he answered before Jared could feel too bad about putting extra pressure on him.

"Sleep," he said quietly. His eyes darted up to Jared's before dropping down again and he added in an honest whisper, "And kissing."

"Kissing?" Jared repeated with a smile. Trying to understand Jensen was like riding a tilt-a-whirl - every time he got it figured out, he'd be spun around and shaken up - but as Jensen looked up at him nervously, braced for rejection, he wondered if it had finally settled into place for good. "I can work with kissing."

Jensen's eyes widened in pleased disbelief and Jared kissed him on the forehead with a smile. "Get under the covers. I'll be there in a second."

He turned his back while Jensen got into bed, and he changed into his well-worn sweats and tee before flicking the light off and clambering into bed with him. Jensen was burrowed under the blankets, clearly enjoying being in a bed that was more comfortable than his, and Jared made a mental note to work on making Jensen's life more comfortable wherever possible. He smoothed his hand through Jensen's hair as they snuggled in close, and he met Jensen's eyes in the moonlight as he asked, "Are you sure you want this? We can just go to sleep - no harm, no foul."

"I want it," Jensen said, quiet and hopeful. "Please?"

Jared didn't need much more persuasion to lock their lips together again. Instantly he could feel the difference in Jensen's whole body as he relaxed into the kiss, parting his lips and letting Jared tease him with slow, gentle licks and the easy slide of tongue against tongue. He kept his hands on Jensen's hips, not wanting to spook him again, and he tried to will away his burgeoning erection when Jensen tilted his head to deepen the kiss.

Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to disguise and Jared froze when Jensen shifted close enough to rub up against it. He expected another flinch, or a stutter in the movement of Jensen's tongue against his, but Jensen kept going, cuddling up close in Jared's arms and letting his own dick rub against Jared's through the material of their sweatpants.

Groaning, Jared dipped his head to mouth along Jensen's jaw and murmured, "Is this okay? We can stop if you want."

Jensen let out a quiet moan and ground harder against Jared as he whispered back, "I-it's fine. It feels good..."

Jared smiled and nipped at his jaw. "That's the idea." He caught Jensen's lips again and let Jensen coax him halfway on top of him until their dicks were at a better angle. Jared rocked his hips down, rubbing his dick against Jensen's with more pressure, and he smiled when Jensen clutched at his shoulders and asked, "Please, I- Will you touch me?"

Jared kissed him again, hot and quick, while he propped himself up on one elbow and reached to push his own pants down and to work Jensen's dick out of his underwear and sweatpants. Their bare lengths brushed and their moans were almost simultaneous as they both canted their hips in search of more pressure.

"How do you want me to touch you?" Jared asked, wanting to make sure Jensen was on the same page. He jerked his dick with the hand he wasn't using for balance, letting his balls bump up against Jensen's and letting his knuckles skim the length of Jensen's cock.

"Hand?" Jensen asked, sounding strung out and uncertain. "Your hand, or your dick, or anything, just please..."

"I got you," Jared soothed, letting precome smear over his palm before he wrapped his hand around both their dicks as much as he could. The friction as he moved was just the right ride of painful, and he heard Jensen gasp beneath him as he pushed up to fuck himself into Jared's fist and against Jared's dick. "That's it."

"Oh, God," Jensen whimpered. "Sir- Jared, please, I need-"

He was cut off by a surprised cry as he came hard, spilling over Jared's hand as Jared wrung the orgasm out of him, and Jared released his dick as it twitched in his hand, wary of how oversensitive Jensen might be. He stripped his own dick quickly, hand coated with Jensen's come, and he dropped down onto his back just as he reached completion, coming on his hand and t-shirt as Jensen fought to catch his breath beside him.

Dazed and still kind of disbelieving, Jared wiped his hand on his shirt and stripped it off before pulling his pants back into place, and Jensen followed suit, setting Jared's folded hoodie on the floor at the side of the bed.

The silence stretched out for a few seconds too long, filled only with the sound of their breathing, but Jared was the one to speak first. "You okay?"

Jensen nodded, drowsy but still awake. "Yeah. I- Thank you."

"No thanks necessary," he said, leaning over to kiss him lightly on the lips. "You're all right though? I didn't mean to push you."

"I'm okay," Jensen said, sounding tentative but less dazed. "Do you want me to go back to my own bed now or-"

Jared waved away the idea, wrapping his arms around Jensen and tugging him into a loose hug as he said, "Not unless you want to go back in there. Personally, I think we should sleep." He yawned purposefully. "See? Sleepy."

Jensen smiled, disbelieving and bashful, and Jared kissed him on the forehead when he felt him relax in his arms. "It's gonna be different now," Jared promised quietly. "I'll be better."

Jensen blinked at him with sleepy confusion. "You don't need to be better."

Jared smiled and kissed him again, warmed by the content little sound that escaped his lips. Settling back on the pillow, he watched Jensen's eyes fall shut as sleep started to pull him under, and said quietly, mostly to himself, "I really do."


End file.
